Best Hiking Snacks
Best Hiking Snacks
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The humble hiking snack has to tick a number of boxes to make it into our backpacks.
The best hiking snacks are light weight, low in sugar, un-squishable, ambient, low packaging and let’s not forget delicious.
Muesli bars have been the staple for hikers for years, but most of them are so full of sugar they are likely to spontaneously combust in your backpack!
Trail mix is just what the marketing people renamed the “boring bag of mixed nuts” … and I don’t know how many times I have found a half liquid apple in the bottom of my bag.
No! We demand more from our snacks. Here are a few ideas for your next venture out in the bush
Beef Jerky – This one ticks all of the boxes. There are lots of commercially available brands of jerky out there. Some are a little salty for our liking but luckily jerky is really easy to make.
It is best done in a dehydrator, but you can also do it in the oven. The trick is to use meat with very little fat and cut it nice and thin. Partially freezing the meat makes it much easier to slice. I have always found simply putting dry spices on the raw meat works really well, but the internet has 270,000 marinades for you to experiment with. Coriander seeds are the key (to general happiness in your life).
Tuna Satchets – Tuna comes in a tin right? Not any more! Tuna packaging technology (TPT for short) has come a long way in recent years. No longer do have to deal with a potentially life threatening tin can cut to get your delicious tuna whilst out on the trails. Seriously though, tin cans are a pain when you are hiking. We like our meals to get smaller after we consume them – not just messier. Low in sugar, high in protein, delicious … perfect.
90% Cocoa Chocolate – Yeah okay, it’s got a little sugar in it, but it’s not too bad. And it doesn’t taste sweet which definitely makes a difference. Ever tried eating just one of those jelly snakes?! I am sure they put some sort of addictive drug in those thing. High cocoa chocolate not only has a good amount of fat (yes that’s a thing when you are active) but a little bit of caffeine doesn’t hurt on the last leg of a 20km walk.
If you use a water bladder, tuck the block of choc right in next to the bladder. It won’t keep it cold, but it will stop it from melting.
A spicy roasted seed mix – Now before you say it, this is no boring trail mix with a lick of paint. If 4.5 years at university taught me anything, it is a seed is not a nut (and spending less time at the Tavern can save 0.5 years of your life). Seeds + spices = stunning snack or SS = SS. Who can argue with that maths!
The trick with these guys is to roast the seeds individually. Pepitas don’t cook as fast as linseeds and Sunflower seeds are an enigma to me. In terms of spices, I put smoked praprika on almost everything these days, and it goes perfectly with spicy seeds. A little salt and you have a one of the best hiking snacks.
What are your Best Hiking Snacks?
So there you have our favourites. Got some other ideas for back pack snacks? We would love to hear from you… we are hungry!!!
